Open call to all colleges and further or higher education providers in the North East and Yorkshire!
Delivery Innovation Fund Trial to stimulate Retrofit training in our region.
Between December 2023 and March 2024, The North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub received funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to develop a Retrofit Skills Plan for the region.
The plan recognised that Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) providers in the North East and Yorkshire region face a range of challenges in delivering retrofit training.
The challenges identified include lack of staff time to develop course content, lack of staff to deliver, lack of budgets for CPD, lack of demand from employers, lack of awareness of the training offer amongst businesses and poor understanding of what retrofit is.
The Retrofit Skills Plan included a proposal for a Delivery Innovation Fund to support training providers in the region with activity that cannot be funded through core FE budgets that would facilitate the development, delivery and filling of retrofit courses.
The Hub has received from DESNZ a small amount of funding on a time-limited basis to test this approach as a way of piloting new (not existing) activity aiming to increase provision or engage more people with existing provision, ultimately leading to more people trained in retrofit skills.
The types of activities to be tested through the pilot programme could include:
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of staff in retrofit skills
- Co-creation of curriculum with industry
- Piloting course delivery or newly developed content
The minimum grant value that you can apply for is £40,000, whilst the maximum grant value is £60,000. All applicants will be required to provide a statement of UK Subsidy Control compliance with their application form.
Successful projects must have completed delivery by no later than 31st August 2024 and must commit to participating in a formative evaluation of the wider programme.
The following organisations are eligible to apply, subject to UK Subsidy Control regulations:
- Colleges
- Further Education Providers
- Higher Education Providers
Applications close at midnight on Friday 14th June. Please send your completed application form to enquiries@NEYnetzerohub.com by the deadline to be considered for funding.
